The Lovers
by Tori-No-Miko
Summary: No matter the costs, without it they will not be complete. It forces you to choose and decide without reason. Fulfilling, yet destructive. These are tales of their encounter with it and their downfall. Short story collection. All het.
1. Wavering Illusion

**Summary**

Under the blanket of stars, there sat a lone assassin, forgotten by the world and to remember alone. Assassin femalexHunter Male.

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**Wavering Illusions**

By: Tori-no-Miko

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**All love that has not friendship for its base is like a mansion built upon sand.**

_- Ella Wheeler Wilcox_

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Stars danced across her vision as she stared off into the vast space above her. She sighed into the cold air, leaving faint remnants of her spirit. Remembering the earlier incidents of the day, she quickly rubbed her eyes. A lone assassin sat under the darkest shadow of the fabled cherry blossom tree in the land of destiny, Amatsu.

The cool wind brushed her dark hair back, as if comforting her. Once again she sighed, tears almost gaining access to the outside.

"_Hello." A warm hand stretched out in acceptance. "Do you want to party with me?" A kind smile, a smile like no other she'd ever remember greeted her as she had been resting in the shade of Payon's famous Archer Village. She stared at him with a look of uncertainty as if saying, 'why aren't you afraid of ME?'_

"_Wh-" She growled while being cut off by the oblivious archer._

"_You **are** a thief aren't you?" Suddenly his calm smile was replaced with an evil smirk. "I wonder what the Pronterean Chivalry would do to you if I had told them you had been stealing off merchants." The thief gave a nervous glance at the merchants happily selling their items off burning holes in most normal people's pockets. He sensed her nervousness and added "you do know at a confused state Midgard is in, they will never believe what **thieves** say."_

_She gulped and on that day an unwilling thief and a deceitful archer had formed an unbreakable partnership._

It was only several days, or several hours after that matter, the thoughtless archer had gotten the duo into a predicament that could have meant their lives or maybe a limb or two…not much…

"_MAN! Are you ALWAYS this useless?" the thief growled at the wounded archer. Herself being attacked from all sides by a mob of Munaks and Bonguns._

"_Oh be quiet." He snarled back at her. He glanced at the girl and noticed her throw a dirty at him, even in this kind of situation. Suddenly another Munak came at him. He couldn't help but call out in pain as the monster rammed its fist into his stomach. "Nng!" A Bongun raised its fists to launch a final blow; he could only close his eyes in unresponsive anticipation. _

_The blow never came._

It was really surprising to him how despite knowing the thief for a meagre 10 hours she had taken a deadly blow for him. Before he had comprehended what had happened to his blackmailed party member, a party of priests discovered the fallen thief and archer. Healed and bandaged they were warped to Prontera Sanctuary.

Once she had woken up, he interrogated her with questions such as "Why did you take that hit?", "How strong are you? Not to die from a hit like that". The girl had been unaccustomed to the new surroundings and confused about what had happened, fell unconscious once again.

That was probably the beginning. The feelings that never should have been, or more or less, feelings that never were. Those troublesome nights, those memory filled days, all were part of a plan to ultimately in the end, bring suffering to the beholder.

It was only a month after the life changing event where she and he had travelled to Morroc. Just for her Assassin examination.

"_Bleraaagghh!" The thief ran past the sandmen straight through the entrance of her soon to be new Job Guild._

"_Hey-!" the surprised guards gasped seeing an archer and a thief run straight at them- or more importantly, the mounds of sand people that followed them._

"_Sorry! You can handle this right? Ahaha…Small fry for people like you? 'Kay thanks bye!" The thief leaped over the two guardians. An archer promptly followed._

"_AHHHH!" their screams echoed into the quiet stone dungeon._

"_That wasn't very nice…" the running archer sighed to his companion. "And with that kind of personality, they will never let a rowdy person like you in here."_

"…_Really?" She said almost with a sad note. "I've got an idea!"_

No one knew why or how they put that kind of plan to work. But one thing struck the examiners hard on the head-literally.

"_OK! This is a stick up! Change me into an Assassin or the guild leader gets it." The little thief-girl motioned to her wasted archer friend who held a peculiar looking dagger at the assassin leader's neck._

"…_?" all the guild members stared at her courage, and pitied the poor boy with her._

_In the end the girl became an assassin much to the leader's protests._

She smiled. These memories were her fondest. Once again, she felt the tingling sensation behind her eyes. She brushed it away.

A few days after her successful hijacking of the assassin guild, her friend had to break some terrible news to her.

"_Hey…" He started while on thief walk through the bushy forests of Prontera. He took note of the girls smile as she acknowledged his uncertainty. "I'm going to go take my hunter examination."_

"_GREAT! We can go together!" a swift reply came._

"_I don't think you'd want to come with me." His eyes were downcast and he slowly brushed his hair out of his eyes. The new assassin gave him a puzzled look. "I..I..I love you." With that he had a quick glance at her face. She seemed shocked, but in a way told him she didn't return his feelings. "Sorry!" and with that, he took off into the dense forest._

"…" _the girl made no action to chase her long time partner. "He loves…me?" and that was the last time she saw him._

She frowned. Why did she remember that?

_It was a year later- today to be precise, when she received a guild invitation to help secure a Guild Castle in AL De Baran. Her nights were plagued by her friend's confession. She never knew, but with that edgy feeling in her heart ever since, she kept denying it. That was, she finally realised she had also, loved him back._

_She glanced at the merchants and chattering people. Upon arrival into the centre of Prontera, she took a seat in front of the fountain. The assassin breathed in deeply and stared into the sky with a sense of contentment._

"_Hehehe! Thanks so much for this!" She heard a feminine voice call out from her right._

"_It's no problem." A stronger male voice answered. "…" _

"_Hey…what's wrong..?" The female voice stopped. With curiosity the assassin turned her head and looked at the owners of the voices. A dancer and a hunter. Fairly slim dancer, nice complexion; every girl would die for her looks. Tall and idol like, the hunter had a face she could no longer forget._

"_It's…you…" The former thief-girl stuttered at her long lost companion. She quickly jumped into his arms and hugged him._

"_Erm, hi…" the dancer waved slightly with a stunned look._

_The assassin could no longer hold back, she ignored the dancer. Breaking her embrace she held a joyful look on her face._

"_I…Could never forget you. This past year- no, all the times, I- I love you too." She held her mouth; her outburst caused the dancer to look at her even in more shock, passer Byers stared on in wonder._

"…_I'm sorry…" With that, the hunter took the dancers hand and held it tightly. "She's my fiancée."_

_Tears almost escaped her eyes, but she held back. She gave them a weak smile._

"_Oh congratulations. I'm really happy for you two!" With that the assassin took off with her great speed._

My God…What has been happening throughout this year? What had she missed? Why didn't she ever use her brain to examine her situation first? The lone assassin sat under the blanket of stars, usually there was a moon to light her way and guide her. But tonight, there was no moon.

A rustle of wind brought her back to the recognition of reality. Life was cruel. No one was there for her. There would never be salvation for her painful heart. A shadowy figure drew closer to the assassin. She looked back at the familiar person. Her former companion. Her former admirer. Her still aching heart longs for him.

"I'm sorry about today. Can we still be friends?" He said with a kind smile, the same kind from her first memory with him. Outstretched hand drew out for her.

She smiled politely and took his hand. It was him. She wanted to see him one last time. But why had her tears that she held back all day, block her vision now?

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Dedicated to my best friend and_ him_, who have both now probably forgot about me.

Please review if you liked it. Thank you.


	2. Lie

**Summary**

A jilted lover. A forbidden love. It was never meant to be. Or was it? High priestxHigh priestess.

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**Lie**

By Tori no Miko

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YOU LIED TO ME.

You said I would be the only one. You said there was no one who could replace me. You said you would be with me forever. And soon, they will find you.

Her silvery blonde hair was dyed red by the blood pooling around her body. The high priestess lay motionless on the front bench of the empty Prontera church.

Blood had stopped dripping from the deep gash in her neck and coloured her pink priestess attire a sickly brown. Her glassy eyes had settled on the altar of the church, arms sprawled across the bench as if reaching for something which she had ultimately been unable to grasp. Discarded beside her was a blood coated knife.

I did everything I could for you; just the way you liked it. Why? Why? WHY?

I grew my hair out long just because I knew you preferred it. I stopped wearing my glasses because you told me I was prettier without it. I became a high priestess because I wanted to be near you. I tried to become the perfect woman for you.

Why did you betray me?

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Halloween was always a restless day for acolytes. Agitated spirits always caused trouble and as a High Priest it was his job to exorcise them. For him, every mission was a life threatening situation where his job did not guarantee his survival, but as everyone else in Midgard moves on, he too accepted his bleak fate. He said his goodbyes to everyone in the Pronterean church where his father, mother and other colleagues bid him farewell.

He retired to his room in the church and as the appointed high priest, he sighed as he thought about his duties. From the shadows she emerged and locked him in a tight embrace. Her eyes were red and her brows knit in distress as she begged him not to leave. Swiftly he took her by the chin and silenced her with a kiss. He said he loved her and would be back for her. He did not see the silver glimmer from under her silvery hair.

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I saw you that day. Did you know?

I saw how you both disappeared into that inn. The huntress whom you also swore your love to. I saw how you played me into the palm of your hand. Made me believe that our love was true. I never did buy your excuse. Party member only? Who would share a room with a party member in the middle of the day?

I saw how you dangled your arm around her shoulder when she had drunk just a bit of alcohol. I saw how your hands danced from her upper back to her inner thighs.

And you know what? I'm glad she perished in such agony.

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He whispered lewd things into the huntress' ears as she giggled girlishly red-faced. From the corner the neglected high priestess watched in horror. They hadn't noticed her as she followed them from Geffen field to the tavern.

He took the huntress by the shoulders and paid the inn keeper some money and soon ascended up stairs. From thereon, the high priestess reduced to tears sat in anguish. Hours later he returned without knowing she had seen them.

The huntress was still in the room cooling her head off from the alcohol.

The sun was setting though the curtains were down. A long shadow was cast from the angle of light as it deflected off the single mirror in the room. The intoxicated huntress watched as the shadow darted to and fro with a weak grin. It was then from the corner of her eyes she noticed the abnormal metallic glint unmoving beside the curtain.

Her scream echoed in the under furnished room.

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She is nothing compared to me. Why did you ever choose her?

She had nothing going for her other than her cute face. Her body lost to me in every way. She was nothing but a non-reborn huntress and here I was one of the most respected high priestess of Midgard.

What did you see in her that I could not?

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She held the knife to her wrist. Tears dripping from the corners of her eyes and screamed to him. He had no right to leave her behind, at least let her come with him. He tried to pry the knife free from her grasp, coaxing her, she was his beloved and he could not bear for her life to be endangered.

She called him a liar but did not say more. She repeated liar until her throat was dry. He lunged at her and tried to take the knife but missed. She dodged him almost anticipating his movements but was not quick enough. The knife landed squarely on his chest and in vain he attempted to heal himself.

The last sight he saw was her watching him in silence.

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Did you know I knew you would lunge at me? Did you know I hoped that you would just 'land' on the point?

I was so happy when you just died in the ground there. I felt so free. You were finally mine and mine alone. You could not run off without me now.

But something else stood in my way. Do you know what? Now you couldn't even please me. Not at all because you didn't want to move. Why? Why must you defy me always? Even in death, you didn't try to calm me down. I just stood there after it happened and in half laughter and half tears and embraced you.

If you want to defy me so much. Fine.

Even in death I will follow you. I will never let you rest. Not after your betrayal. I have the same knife and I will come to hell with you.

I will watch you and her in amusement.

Do you know why?

Because I love you so much my dear brother.

Fin.

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Halloween contest story for a server I played. Like? Don't like? Criticism? Something useful to say?

Do leave a review. :)

Thanks for reading!


	3. Powder Snow

**Summary**

Lovers seperated are lovers in pain. For the greatest sacrifice is the greatest gain. Lord knightxHigh wizard.

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**Powder Snow**

By: Tori no Miko

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A lord knight struck the ever increasing army of undead. His spear narrowly missed the Wanderers' swift movements. Cursing his sluggish actions, he reached for his sword, which to his dismay was 2 meters away from where he laid. Several monsters appeared before his fallen body, and before he came to realise the sharp truth, he was already impaled. His last thought was 'sorry'.

_It was dinner time and they both sat out in an inn somewhere deep in the Christmas village Lutie. Her stew had spilt over her long white wizard cloak after something unexpected. She wiped it clean and then asked him to repeat it, seemingly an embarrassing thing to be done, but he had repeated what he had said just the same._

_Her cheeks flushed as she let the information sink in. Him. Her. Little cottage in Lutie. What was he saying again?_

"…" _he studied her reaction for a moment and then sighed. "I'm saying, in your simple words, I love you."_

_The girl now choked and felt lightheaded. 'Okay. Now I will faint.' As she thought that, the same thing happened. Falling head first on to the table she hit her bowl leaving a nasty mark on her head, but still fainting just the same._

The wizard almost smiled, if she hadn't felt so helpless and lonely. That had been the beginning of their love, like a fairytale. However, to their dismay, it was short lived. Numerous attacks outside of cities had been reported and the Pronterean Chivalry had decided to send people out. Her lover, a lord knight, was also sent to the battlefield.

She sat in the white wonder content at her, cold, white surrounding. Even if she had frozen to death, she wouldn't have cared at this moment. If tears weren't so salty, she was sure they'd be ice on her cheeks.

The high wizard saw little or no reason to not be upset, but deep in her mind, she was crying to the world for help. A silent plea which would never reach its responder.

It was earlier that day; she had heard her fiancée had died on the battle field with the 10th battalion against the Dark Lord. Ragnarok was inevitable.

"_No. No no no no no!" The high wizard, at the time, a high magician, clung desperately to him. "Don't go, what happened to our dream?! We were going to travel Midgard! We were going to own a home in Lutie. Weren't we?"_

_He gave her a helpless look but said nothing. They stood in that position for a good part of 10 minutes until the head knight had forced him to go and mount his Peco Peco. One last look at the weeping high wizard he was forced to leave._

"_Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you give me a good bye? Why didn't you hold me and say you loved me?!" she desperately whispered to the retreating figure. She collapsed onto her knees and cried, like the many others that had their loved ones sent to the battle field._

That was the last time she had ever seen him. Since that day, she had lived in hope of him coming back, holding her tight like he used to. But now there was no hope.

She remembered she had received a letter from the front later on.

_To my dearest,_

_It pains me to not be able to tell you directly, but it has to be said. That day in Prontera, I did not want to say goodbye. I will not say goodbye. Not ever. Since when was a good bye 'good'? I will definitely come back and marry you, and then we will own our own house in Lutie. For now please wait my dearest. This is a test of the gods and we will prevail. So please, wait for me, I will come back._

The ending was messily scrawled which she predicted that he was writing in private to her in a small amount of time. There was no address to be returned so she could not contact him after that. However she was still content with receiving any form of contact from him, since their separation 5 months ago. However, as she had pulled that first piece of paper out, a second had fallen. Her face darkened as she skimmed it and she fell to her knees.

_To: family member/partner,_

_We regret to inform you that the sender of this letter has fallen in the battlefield. Rest assured that he had endured an instant death and did not suffer to the hands of the undead. Our priests and priestess' tried their best to resurrect him, however, in vain. As this brave warriors last request, we have attached his last letter to you. Please do not despair, he has served Midgard and will spend the afterlife in Valhalla._

_From: The Lieutenant of the 10__th__ Battalion of the Pronterean Chivalry_

The world ended for her when she heard about his death.

_You lied to me. You lied. You said you were going to come back. You said we would marry. You said we would own our own house in Lutie. You **LIED**. _

_The paused time is about to start moving there's too many things that I don't want to forget about. _

She looked up from the letters, which was now ruined with her tears which made the ink run.

Her eyes blinded by the pure white snow, saw a figure advancing on her. She stood up front the seat she had been occupying for the last half a day. Her cloak which had offered her no protection from the biting cold snow, flapped like paper from the chilling wind.

She gasped, tears trickling down her cold cheeks. In disbelief she took a shaky step toward the figure. It was him. He had not died after all!

He gave her a warm smile. She ran to him and hugged him, he did the same.

"I was waiting for you." He whispered in her ears. "I knew you'd be here." She cried tears of happiness and kissed him. The winter wind chilled her being to the core but she hadn't noticed for she was in her own world, she was content. The wind had caught the letter which had informed her about the death, yet she had seemingly forgotten the news promptly.

Next morning, her lifeless frozen body was found sitting on a bench in Lutie.

In her hands, gripped tightly was a letter.

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Finished in 2006.

Posted now.

Typical or not typical? Dramatic or anticlimatic? Upto you, the reader to interpret.

Please leave any feedback. It is very appreciated. :)

Thanks.

_Tori no Miko._


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